Corsham's Robert Lord Methuen, 7th Baron Methuen, dies aged 82

Robert Alexander Holt, the seventh Baron Methuen, who served in Parliament as both a hereditary and elected peer, died on Wednesday aged 82.

The youngest of three brothers, he was born in 1931 and studied at Shrewsbury School and then Trinity College Cambridge, where he gained a degree in engineering.

He worked for Westinghouse Brake and Signal Company, IBM UK and Rolls Royce plc, before following his brother into the House of Lord in 1995, where he served on the science and technology select committee.

In 1999 following the abolition of hereditary peerages he remained as an elected peer on the Liberal Democrat benches.

He was married twice and had two daughters, and three grandchildren.

His daughter Charlotte said: “He died on Wednesday in St Oswald's Hospital Ashbourne, Derbyshire, peacefully, after a short illness. His family were with him.

“He was active in the House of Lords as an elected hereditary peer until earlier this year, and was patron of the Lady Margaret Hungerford Trust until very recently.

“Before the death of his brother in 1994, when he entered the House of Lords, he had been an electronics engineer, latterly with Rolls Royce, but earlier with IBM and Westinghouse.

He grew up in Corsham, at the Ivy House, and remained very attached to Corsham."

His funeral will take place at St Mary’s Church in Mappleton, Derbyshire at 11.30am on Monday July 28.

Donations in his memory can be made to the Ark Rescue and Rehoming Centre in Ashbourne, the Severn Valley Railways and The Lady Margaret Hungerford Charity, via H Lee and Son funeral directors, Ashbourne, on 01335 342530.